WORLD – Turkish forces thwart attempted coup

Turkish forces loyal to President Tayyip Erdogan largely crushed an attempted military coup on Saturday after crowds answered his call to take to the streets in support of the government and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.

One hundred and sixty-one people were killed, including many civilians, after a faction of the armed forces tried to seize power using tanks and attack helicopters. Some strafed the headquarters of Turkish intelligence and parliament in the capital, Ankara, and others seized a major bridge in Istanbul.

Erdogan accused the coup plotters of trying to kill him, and launched a purge of the armed forces, which last used force to stage a successful coup more than 30 years ago.

“They will pay a heavy price for this,” said Erdogan, who saw off mass public protests against his rule three years ago.

“This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army.” A Turkish broadcaster reported that a purge of the judiciary was also under way.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan sits inside a car with family members at Istanbul airport. (REUTERS)

At one stage, military commanders were held hostage by the plotters, a minister said. By Saturday evening there were still isolated rebel pockets but the government declared the situation fully under control, saying 2,839 people had been rounded up, from foot soldiers to senior officers, including those who had formed “the backbone” of the rebellion.

Anadolu news agency said one of those detained was the commander general of the second army, one of Turkey’s most senior military officials.

A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled the country of about 80 million people since 2003, would have marked another seismic shift in the Middle East, five years after the Arab uprisings erupted and plunged Turkey’s southern neighbour Syria into civil war.

However, a failed coup attempt could still destabilize a NATO member and major U.S. ally that lies between the European Union and the chaos of Syria, with Islamic State bombers targeting Turkish cities and the government also at war with Kurdish separatists.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is seen amid his supporters at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul (Reuters)

Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the southwest coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and was shown on television outside Ataturk Airport.

Addressing thousands of flag-waving supporters at the airport later, he said the government remained at the helm, although disturbances continued in Ankara.

Erdogan, a polarizing figure whose Islamist-rooted ideology lies at odds with supporters of modern Turkey’s secular principles, said the plotters had tried to attack him in the resort town of Marmaris.

“They bombed places I had departed from right after I was gone,” he said. “They probably thought we were still there.”

Erdogan’s AK Party has long had strained relations with the military, which has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism although it has not seized power directly since 1980.

His conservative religious vision for Turkey’s future has also alienated many ordinary citizens who accuse him of authoritarianism. Police used heavy force in 2013 to suppress mass protests demanding more freedom.

A man wrapped in a Turkish flag walks past a military vehicle in front of Sabiha Airport, in Istanbul (Reuters)

However, he also commands the admiration and loyalty of millions of Turks, particularly for restoring order to an economy once beset by regular crises. Living standards have risen steadily under his rule, and while the economy has hit serious problems in recent years, it grew a greater-than-expected 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

Still, the violence is likely to hit a tourism industry already suffering from the bombings, and business confidence is also vulnerable.

In a night that sometimes verged on the bizarre, Erdogan frequently took to social media, even though he is an avowed enemy of the technology when his opponents use it and frequently targets Twitter and Facebook.

Erdogan addressed the nation via a video calling service, appearing on the smart phone of a CNN Turk reporter who held it up to a studio camera.

He said the “parallel structure” was behind the coup attempt, his shorthand for followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric whom he has repeatedly accused of trying to foment an uprising in the military, media and judiciary.

Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, once supported Erdogan but became a leading adversary. He condemned the attempted coup and said he played no role in it.

“As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations,” Gulen said in a statement.

Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States had not received any request to extradite Gulen.

The purge appeared to go beyond the military. Citing a decision by the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, broadcaster NTV reported that authorities had removed 2,745 judges from duty.

A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul (Reuters)

Gunfire and explosions had rocked both Istanbul and Ankara through the night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power. However, by dawn the noise of fighting had died down considerably.

About 50 soldiers involved in the coup surrendered on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul after dawn on Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air. Reuters witnesses saw government supporters attack the pro-coup soldiers who had surrendered.

By Saturday afternoon, CNN Turk reported that security forces had completed an operation against coup plotters at the headquarters of the military general staff. Security sources also said police detained about 100 military officers at an air base in the southeast.

Neighboring Greece arrested eight men aboard a Turkish military helicopter which landed in the northern city of Alexandroupolis on Saturday, the Greek police ministry said, adding that they had requested political asylum.

The U.S. consulate in Turkey said authorities were denying movement onto and off the southern Incirlik air base. The Pentagon said it was working with Turkey to resume air operations at the base, used to conduct air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria.

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